It's time to stop and smell the flowers

After we came back from Kentucky, Aunt Martha came in for a visit. We had a good time but unfortunately, Sophie still wasn't sleeping well after we got back from Kentucky. We found out that she had a second ear infection and a sinus infection. Our yard has been beautiful with all of the flowers and trees in bloom! Here's Sophie in front of our azaleas. Hopefully, Sophie will get to feeling better so we can get some pictures and Paula and Sophie can enjoy their extended visit in Nashville.

March Madness / St. Patty's Day

We took a family trip to Kentucky this past weekend to see some of Matt's extended family. Sophie had a great time wearing green for St. Patrick's Day and carrying around a basketball to show her support for Kentucky and Vanderbilt basketball teams.

We visited Matt's grandparents and aunts and uncles in Wurtland, KY. Sophie met some of her distant cousins. This picture shows Matt's grandparents with a few of the great grandchildren: Caitlin, Katie, Jacob, Sophie, and Jordan. They all had a great time playing.

Before we flew back to South Carolina, we stopped in Cincy to visit Paula's cousin, Beth, and her children: Rebekah, Judah, and Anna.

Miss Sophie's Latest Tricks

Well, I wanted to include a picture of Sophie's room first for those who haven't seen it. Just this week, I took the bumper pads off though. Another little girl recently broke her arm by falling out of her crib and she's about Sophie's age. So, although it was a sad moment for me, I finally took Sophie's bumper pads off. In the last couple of weeks Paula's Uncle Walter came through Charleston and stayed with us for a couple of nights on his way to Georgia for a kayaking trip. He came back through here on his way home. We had fun spending time with him and showing him around Charleston some. This past Thursday Matt & Paula got to go see Mamma Mia which was really fun. We had front row seats!! The not so fun part was coming home to a crying toddler who had woken up a few hours after going to bed for the babysitter. It turned out that Sophie had an ear infection.

As you can see in the bottom picture, Sophie is trying to carry 2 balls up the stairs. She has gotten to where she really likes carrying lots of things such as a purse, one or two baby dolls, a book or two, etc. I guess she's probably seen her parents try to carry lots of things at one time.

One of the cutest things that Sophie did recently was sing "where is daddy?" complete with hand motions to the tune of "Where is thumbkin?" She loves to sing and make up her own songs.

Sophie is also very proud that her mama has recently set up little potties and stools in our bathrooms. We haven't really begun formal potty training yet but she is very fascinated with her new things.

Also, for the past week or two, Sophie has been saying, "Mama, Daddy, ai-pane (translation-airplane)" We are planning to fly to Cincinnati on Friday and then drive down to Northeastern Kentucky to visit Matt's grandparents and several of his aunts, uncles, and cousins.

Sophie and the guys

Here's Sophie at the top of one of the tunnel slides at our local park. Paw-paw Waggoner and Uncle Phil came in to visit last week. One day, they offered to babysit Sophie while Paula ran some errands. They took Sophie to the park and had a lot of fun. That night, we all went to a restaurant called "The Queen Anne's Revenge" that had a pirate theme. It was about 45 minutes away but it was really good.

Matt, Paula & Sophie at "The Queen Anne's Revenge" with replica of a ship.

O-R-E-O

Well, Paw Paw Waggoner and Uncle Phil came in yesterday (2/19) after Mimi and Paw Paw Tom left Charleston and headed back to Virginia. Among other things, Sophie has been introduced to Double Stuf Oreos. It doesn't get much better than that! She promptly finished her "required" lunch food to eat a Double Stuf Oreos. Like most of us, she couldn't stop after one cookie either. =) Paw Paw Waggoner showed her how the cookies could also been dunked in milk but Sophie drew the line at that. Anyway, we've had a good time hanging out with Uncle Phil and Paw Paw Waggoner!

Chez Sophie

Sophie enjoys going grocery shopping with her little grocery cart. She got this cute little outfit for Christmas from Nana and Paw Paw Waggoner. Part of the reason it's taken us so long to post is that after we got over the stomach bug, Paula came down with a really bad cold and an ear infection. Matt & Sophie have also had little colds. For President's Day weekend, Mimi and Paw Paw Tom (her Vergne grandparents), came down to visit. We had a great time visiting with them. Sophie received a special gift for Valentine's Day, a Dora play kitchen. She loves it! Santa Claus had a little problem finding one in time for Christmas because the elves did not make enough of these kitchens and ship them out around the world.

Here's Chez Sophie washing dishes after cooking up food for everyone. She enjoys cooking in her kitchen and dancing to the little radio (which is hilarious)! =) Below, Sophie is playing with Ashlyn, a friend from church, who came over to play this week.

While Mimi and Paw Paw Tom were in town, we visited the Charleston Tea Plantation. It is the only tea plantation still in operation in the United States. We also went to the Wildlife Expo downtown one day where many different types of animals were on display. Sophie enjoyed seeing all kinds of animals such as camels, cows, goats, birds, etc.

Mirror, Mirror, on the wall!

Sophie enjoys performing for her reflection in the mirror. She loves to sing and make motions with her arms. One of her favorite songs to sing with us is still Old MacDonald, except now she will supply the names of the animals that she wants to sing about (Pig, duck, chick, dog and "moo" are her favorites). She often makes up songs with a lot of nonsense jibber jabber too, but they are very melodic :)